The invention relates to an oscillating conveyor comprising an oscillating rail, on which goods can be conveyed in the direction of a first position on the oscillating rail by oscillation of the oscillating rail, and also comprising at least one excitation element for exciting the oscillation.
Oscillating conveyors are used, inter alia, for feeding small components or the like in automated production processes. The material which is to be conveyed is conveyed along a predefined path by ellipsoidal vibratory movement. In order to generate the vibratory movement, use can be made of electromagnetic oscillation generators operating preferably at the supply frequency of 50 Hz or 60 Hz. The electromagnetic oscillation generators may have a rectifying property, as a result of which the oscillation frequency of the oscillating conveyor is around 100 Hz or 120 Hz and thus being in an acoustic range which is audible to humans. A low oscillation frequency, on the one hand, thus results in environmental noise pollution. On the other hand, in many application cases, strong vibrations are undesired since they can disrupt neighboring processes. Electromagnetic oscillation generators, on account of their functional principle, also generate electromagnetic radiation, which can disrupt adjacent devices or processes.
Instead of electromagnetic oscillation generators, it is also possible to use other actuators, for example piezo actuators, in order to make a rigid rail oscillate. Just replacing the oscillation generator, however, means that, with the same oscillation amplitude, the noise pollution is comparable.